


Protection and Regrets

by Lemniscate35173



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: F/F, I messed up one of the only characters that has nothing wrong with them, well nothing to do about it now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-23
Updated: 2014-09-23
Packaged: 2018-02-18 11:12:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2346368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lemniscate35173/pseuds/Lemniscate35173
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Touka protects Yoriko; she doesn't regret for a moment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Protection and Regrets

Yoriko doesn't notice it, or maybe if she does she doesn't mention it, but Touka protects her. She eats the girl's food even though it will make her sick. She makes sure Yoriko's house is part of her feeding grounds. She doesn't let Yoriko go out alone at night.

_(It might be a bit obsessive, but she's lost too much to do anything less.)_

* * *

She doesn't regret it, either. Yoriko is such a gentle, innocent, naïve creature that it's hard to believe she had been born into this harsh world. A person like Yoriko shouldn't have to live with the knowledge that she could turn a corner and be brutally eaten alive.

_(Sometimes she wonders if Yoriko really does, because she can't imagine anyone being that carefree knowing that.)_

* * *

She doesn't regret it when she's hunched over the toilet praying for the food to pass, and Kaneki has to watch Hinami to make sure she doesn't walk in something she doesn't need to see. She doesn't regret it when she is stuck trying to bandage her own wounds after a particularly vicious fight with a ghoul from the neighboring ward because Yoriko lives right on the edge of the 20th ward. She doesn't regret it when she's an hour late to meet Yomo and ends up having to hunt double that week because they don't have enough time to collect all of the bodies and the doves turn out to be sharper than they thought and almost catch them.

_(Sometimes she didn't want to care, because in the end not caring left you a lot less broken.)_

* * *

She is walking Yoriko home one cold, insignificant night. They stop at a deserted crosswalk, and then there is something warm and soft that tastes like the lip gloss Yoriko lent her once pressing against her lips. It lasts only a moment before Yoriko is blushing and smiling up at her. If it was anyone else, Touka would punch them, but because it's Yoriko, she just smiles down at her and suddenly the night is lot less cold and insignificant. 

_(She ignores the voice that tells her this is wrong; somebody like Yoriko deserves to be loved, even if she doesn't.)_

* * *

It is another cold, insignificant night, and she is walking Yoriko home once again. They stop at the same deserted crosswalk, and Touka smiles fondly at the memories it brings up. Yoriko's face has turned a pleasant shade of pink that isn't just from the cold, and she figures the other girl is remembering a similar memory. 

Yoriko's eyes widen, and the mix of nostalgia and embarrassment that  previously decorated her visage disappears. Whatever she was looking at was obviously alarming her. Touka begins to turn her head.

In the next second, her vision becomes blurred and she is hit with the shock of colliding with the ground. Her blood turns cold and a tight knot forms in her stomach. Yoriko's scream rings out around her, and a red mist blocks out everything except for the consuming fire of rage.

There is a ghoul standing over Yoriko. His kagune has pierced through her, and a patch of red is slowly growing over her shirt. In slow motion, at least to Touka that is, the kagune is ripped out of Yoriko's stomach and Yoriko screams again. It is a sound of pure agony, and Touka rushes toward the ghoul.

He smiles.The ghouls smiles. At this she loses all control. With a feral yell, she flings herself at him. Her eyes have long since lost their human appearance, and her kagune bursts out of her back. The ghoul is cut in half. His torso is separated from his torso and it hits the ground with a meaty thunk. The smile still adorns his face, and she is tempted to rip it off.

Yoriko is sobbing now. Touka's kagune retreats back into her back, and she stands there dumbly. Should she go over there? Yoriko has just seen she is a ghoul. Yoriko has just seen her kill someone. Sweet, innocent Yoriko is dying on the pavement because of her.

"Touka!" Yoriko half shouts, half sobs.

That shocks her out of her stupor. She runs to Yoriko and takes the dying girl in her arms. Something warm and sticky covers her arms, and Yoriko's scent invades her senses. It takes all of her self control not to bite into the helpless girl.

"Touka." Yoriko says again like it's the only thing she knows how to do.

"Shh, Yoriko." Touka says. Tears blur her vision, and she wants to laugh at the irony of it all. Whoever said that ghouls couldn't cry? "You're gonna be fine."

Even when she's half dying, Yoriko doesn't believe such a lie. "Touka . . . don't regret  . . . you." Yoriko squeezes out between labored breathes. "Love  . . . you . . . Touka. Run . . . live." Yoriko says.

Then, her eyes flutter closed. Touka holds what is left of Yoriko one more time, before she heeds the girl's final request. Tears sting her eyes once more as she runs, and she lets them carve tracks down her face.

_(She wishes she could bring herself to regret it, but she really can't.)_

**Author's Note:**

> The byproduct of trying to do my homework, since my attention span is so short I have switch between at least two other things when doing so.


End file.
